Writing advice, publication opportunities, and thoughts on books, language, and life from Donna Volkenannt, winner of the Erma Bombeck Humor Award. Donna believes great stories begin in a writer's imagination and touch a reader's heart.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Last weekend I attended the 49th annual Ozark Creative Writers conference in historic Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I attended my first OCW conference about 20 years ago and attended faithfully for more than ten years, but due to family circumstances I've missed several of the annual conferences, but I was thrilled to make the trip this year!

If you've never been to OCW or visited Eureka Springs, you're missing a wonderful opportunity to hear from some amazing writers and publishers and see some eye-popping scenery.

After attending a writing conference like OCW I'm inspired and want to shout from the rooftops, so for my next series of blog posts I will share some of what I learned over the weekend.

Tiffany is shown here wearing the sparkly red cowboy hat presented to her by Lou Turner, President of OCW.

In Tiffany's opening talk, she spoke with candor and enthusiasm about her love of writers and her joy in discovering new voices at Five Star Publishing. Her passion for books and writers was evident all weekend. She was approachable and knowledgeable -- and did I mention that she loves to talk to writers?

Here are some general comments I jotted down from Tiffany's opening presentation:

What you do matters

Literature has a way of finding us; story chooses its writer

Challenge the norms

Look for opportunity, not power
Be that rebel spiritPut your own voice into the storyWrite what you love and what that story is telling youWriting is a solitary journey that can become part of something biggerDon’t be afraid of the voice in your story

Listen to your characters

Pair the voice with the characters

Challenge the normsReaders love to be challengedAvoid head hoppingDon’t confuse your reader

Frontier Fiction is genre bending, combining elements of western and mystery, even paranormal and sci-fi. The setting is the American frontier, pre-1920
Frontier thriller is very popular in the library market
Fiction writers writing historical fiction do more research
than nonfiction writers
Find an historical character and be sure to get historical details correct

** My favorite quote from Tiffany: “Books are better than chocolate, and I love chocolate.”

I'll post information about Five Star's submission process in a future post.

21 comments:

Sounds like you had a great time, Donna. My favorite of the tidbits given is that the story chooses its writer. I've never heard that before, but it grabbed me, so I'll be giving that a great deal of thought. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for doing this, Donna. Frontier Fiction is new term to me; I love the concept. I have never attend conference but SO planned to this year. Life intervened. I wanted to hear you and Brett Cogburn. I wanted to meet Lou Turner. Well, maybe next year. I will either have to dig in/conquer this writing thing or just give it up!

Hi Claudia,Frontier Fiction was new to me too, and I agree it's a great concept. Sorry you couldn't make it this year. Brett was great. I plan to post about his talk later this month. Never give up! You are a fantastic writer!

Tiffany was very inspiring. There were lots of speakers and not a snoozer in the bunch! I'm so glad you could make it this year. Next year is the big blowout 50th anniversary so we need to gather up all the writers we know and head out there.

For those who want a real writing challenge, reserve a room at the Writer's Colony at Dairy Hollow and commit a week or two to concentrated writing time. WCDH is quiet and scenic and a real tonic, less than two miles from the OCW convention center. There is an application process but I'd be glad to talk about that and offer a reference.

I've been missing out on a lot by not reading all my blogger friends. Just want to say, I'm sorry about missing the event where you wrote a script. Do I have that right? Even though I just read it, nothing stays in my brain. :-) Great tips here and in your previous posts too! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for this, Donna. I love your blog and always learn so much when I come here. All of Tiffany's points are wonderful, but I especially like: "story chooses its writer." That is such an important concept, and it says that ALL writing matters. Not one type is more important than another, just different, and that the "difference" is to be celebrated. That point alone is a treasure to behold, as are you and your insightful posts.

Hi Donna. Late to the party as usual. Just found your blog through a twitter post tagging Tiffany. I enjoyed meeting her this year. While I did not officially attend, she was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. I am looking forward to our 50th! Creative Blessings!

"Time Will Tell" in Mysteries of the Ozarks, Vol V, from Ozark Writers Inc.

Some Favorite Quotes

"Grace changes us and change is painful."Flannery O'Connor***"Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand."Saint Augustine**"The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why."Mark Twain**"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once and a while you could miss it."Ferris Bueller

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